Dukan Diet Creator Loses Libel Battle in French Court

The man who created the Dukan diet has just suffered a complete and devastating loss in French Court. The creator, Pierre Dukan, was accused of fraud by Dr. Jean-Michel Cohen who claimed that the protein heavy diet caused severe health problems.

In this landmark case, Pierre Dukan has been ordered by the court to pay Dr. Cohen and a French health magazine the sum of â‚¬3,000 for abuse of processes. Cohen’s lawyer, Richard Malka was very pleased with the decision in court. In scathing statements, Mr. Malka described the outcome as a “total defeat” for Dr Dukan. Malka went on to say, “Clearly, the court was not persuaded by the diet. I argued that the action was grotesque and the court said it was baseless â€¦ It really takes absolute sensitivity and megalomania to believe you cannot be criticised when you sell books in their millions and are concerned in public health.”

Well-known celebrity followers of the Dukan Diet include not only Jennifer Lopez, Gisele BÃ¼ndchen, and Johnny Hallday, but also the Middleton family!!!

These books and magazine articles alluded to in Malka’s statements were what touched off the entire fracas. The Dukan Diet first appeared in a book titled, I Can’t Lose Weight. This book specifically targeted people who had a hard time in losing weight and keeping a slim figure. The book quickly became a best seller in the UK, the US, and in France with over 24 million sold. Many people began to use this protein-rich diet as a means to losing weight. Some of the more notable figures are Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Lopez and Kate Middleton’s mother.

After the ruling was handed down, Dukan continued to claim that his diet is healthy and poses no life threatening dangers. He also began a war of words as to the success of each rival’s diet. Dukan insists that his methodology is correct and that Dr. Cohen’s diet, which is a calorie counting type of diet, simply fails.

To add insult to injury, along with the libel payout, there were also additional rulings handed down. Dr. Dukan has sued his rival nutritionist for a modest â‚¬13,000. However, this was seen as frivolous and he lost this counter-suit. This brings to question if people will continue to find the Dukan Diet as reliable as it was deemed to be.

Based on the principle of finding a person’s “real weight” the diet builds upon a foundation of 72 high-protein foods including fish and non-fat yogurts and large amounts of oat bran. As dieters continue with this diet vegetables and fruits are introduced. However, the main guiding principle of the diet is to have one protein only day each week.

The court may have handed Dr. Dukan a serious loss, however, there are still plans to move ahead. There are several books in the works with new plans, programs, and recipes. There is no doubt about the “business” aspect of the Dukan Diet, but the good Dr. maintains that money was never an issue. He states that his overlying motivation was, “giving well-being, health, self-esteem and probably longer life” to the many people who looked towards his information for diet success.